


Battle Scars

by asgardianabsinthe (silver_lining)



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Explicit Sexual Content, M/M, Minor Violence, Not Canon Compliant
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-22
Updated: 2015-02-14
Packaged: 2018-01-20 11:06:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1508261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silver_lining/pseuds/asgardianabsinthe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everything had been going great for Tony; life with the Avengers running smoothly, fighting bad guys, working on new tech and a steady-ish relationship with someone.<br/>That is until the Avengers find out that someone is Loki and they are not happy about it.<br/>How the hell is he going to fix this now?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, so after a little encouragement I've decided to post this and if all goes to plan there should be an update once a week (although it is exam season soon but hey, i'll see what I can do-- who needs good grades and sleep)   
> Just a head's up this is un-beta'ed so all mistakes are mine, let me know if I've missed something.

This was not going as planned. The Avengers had been on a routine call out, some asshole with delusions of grandeur and some colourful spandex monologuing to scared tourists in central park, no big deal. Then Loki showed up.

One minute it’d been “You will pay for foiling my plans!” from A-hole In Spandex - seriously ‘foiling,’ the kid had obviously overdosed on Scooby Doo. The next there was a flash of green light and Loki was there. He’d done a complicated wave of his hands and flashed a smirk that couldn’t mean anything good. And that’s when the screaming really started. 

Those who had waited around to see the action were swarmed with thousands of snakes.

A-hole in Spandex shrieked, tripping over his elaborate outfit and fell back into a pile of cobras. Tony winched inside his helmet. That had to hurt.

“We gotta start evac now” Steve called to his team “Hawkeye?” There were going to be at a disadvantage today with Banner at a conference across the country and Thor back in Asgard.

“I got him” Clint sighed and barrelled forward to grab the idiot, pulling him sharply away from the mess of hissing snakes and into the arms of a couple of waiting SHEILD agents who made themselves scarce pretty quickly. 

Natasha held her position next to Steve, gun trained on Loki’s head. 

“Earth’s mightiest heroes” Loki sneered. He was perched high from the carnage in a tree, looking as regal and fucking irritating as ever.

“Don’t you have better things to be doing today, Princess” Tony called flipping up his visor to make eye contact with the insane Norse God “Or did your therapist cancel on you again?” 

Loki grinned and gracefully dropped the 20ft to the ground, snakes parting themselves smoothly to accommodate him. 

“I think this is an adequate use of my time.” Loki drawled and before Tony had time to fire back a retort, Loki had blasted a jet of energy at him. Tony took flight instantly, the bolt of energy setting a tree behind him on fire.

“And now there’s that guy” Tony mumbled, visor locking back into place and readying the repulsors. 

***

They’d been fighting for hours and everyone’s patience was wearing thin. Loki didn’t seem to be in the mood to let up. They’d gone from central park, leaving the snakes to be cleared by SHIELD, to fighting next to the Public Library, to above Stark Tower and finally on top of Grand Central station. Every time it looked like Loki had teleported back to wherever the hell he spent his down time, he was spotted in another part of the city. They were exhausted.

“Iron Man, Widow’s got a clear shot but only if he’s distracted. Can you get up there?” Steve directed to Tony.

“Yeah yeah, I got the bag of cats” Tony quipped and shot up to where Loki was standing.

“Are you gonna be this annoying every time your brother goes back to Asgard?” Tony called as he landed. 

“He is not my brother” Loki scowled and paused turning around just in time to freeze the gas canister Natasha had just hurled with an elegant wave of his hand. Loki plucked the frozen grenade out of the air, tossing it up and catching it again, he began to move closer to Tony. 

“Now Stark, you’ll have to do better than that” 

“Keep him talking Tony, SHIELD’s trying to get a lock on his energy signature but we need him to hold” Steve buzzed through on his com. 

Tony held his ground as Loki prowled, still throwing up and catching the grenade. “So what’s gonna happen now Reindeer Games? Do I need to threaten you again? I know Hulk wouldn’t mind making another Loki shaped hole in the ground.”

“I’m sure he would be so inclined. But you seem to be one beast short today” Loki said, holding his arms out to indicate the lack of the enormous green rage monster. 

“True. But that doesn’t mean I can’t kick your ass. I mean all I’ve seen from you all day is weak ass party tricks and puffs of smoke. You really as hot as you think you are?” 

Loki smirked and with a wave of his hand set a row of parked cars on the street below ablaze. 

“Cute” Tony deadpanned. 

“Hot enough for you Stark?” Loki laughed, eyes gleaming. 

“Thought Ice was more your style, Frosty” Tony jeered and Loki dropped all sense of humour. Tony wondered briefly if he’s pushed the God too far then realised he definitely had.

“Enough!” Loki fumed and finally threw the grenade at him. Tony dodged to the left missing the hit but wasn’t quick enough to miss the two shots of magic Loki blasted at him in quick succession, barrelling him straight in the chest. Tony grunted as the force of Loki’s blasts threw him off the top of the station and back through an office block window. He hit the ground hard and let his head drop back against the carpet.

“Iron Man, you hurt?” Steve’s voice split through the com. 

“I’m just peachy, Cap gimme a minute’ Tony grumbled. 

“He’s gone Tony, let’s just hope he stays that way” Tony groaned and let his muscles relax, the adrenaline leeching out of him. Tony tried to sit up and became aware of the metal rod sticking out of his stomach, straight through his suit. Shit. 

“Er Cap, where’s the closest med team from here?” Tony tried to focus on his breathing and not the sound of blood dripping through the cracks in his suit. 

“Medical help ETA 5 minutes. What’s going on Tony?” his voice was strained. 

“I’ll let you know” the pain was starting to register on his shocked nervous system “JARVIS assess the damage.” 

“Puncture wound seems to have caused a minor gastrointestinal perforation, Sir. I would recommend immediate medical attention.” The crisp English accent intoned. 

“Geez, you think so Jay? Broadcast to whoever’s closest” Tony hissed and dropped his head back against the floor.

“Hang in there Tony” Natasha responded through the com “We’ll be there soon. Looks like Loki’s given up” 

“Fucking Loki” Tony muttered before passing out. 

 

***

Several hours of surgery, clucking from Steve and a good deal of cursing at SHEILD officials later Tony was finally allowed back to Stark tower at nearly 4 in the morning. Steve had wanted him to stay in the hospital overnight “You just had major surgery Tony, don’t be a jackass” but he was having none of it. He rode the elevator up to the pent house; the only noise was his fingers rhythmically tapping the arc reactor. Tony sighed as the doors pinged open. 

“Welcome back Sir, I trust you enjoyed your long stay in hospital” JARVIS greeted him.

“Mute” Tony could have sworn he didn't program his AI to be that sarcastic. 

“Stop all notifications JARVIS, I gotta date with some Laphroaig and my couch” 

JARVIS’s silence confirmed his order. As promised, Tony grabbed a bottle from the bar and headed straight to the leather sofa, dropping the bag of medical goodies on the coffee table as he went. 

Tony took a generous swig of the scotch before delicately lowering himself onto the couch, setting the bottle down to the floor. He sunk into the cushions and groped for the bottle of meds on the table, but it seemed his brilliant luck of the day was still working its magic as he just managed to knock it onto the floor.

“Oh my God” Tony hissed and pinched the bridge of his nose. 

“You called” Tony looked up to find Loki staring down at him, smirking as usual, but looking a little contrite. He wasn’t in his battle gear anymore, only a green tunic and the leather trousers remained. He looked softer but still pretty deadly. Asgardians really didn’t do sweatpants. 

Tony huffed out a laugh “You may have gone a bit overboard with the show Lokes” Loki kneeled down next to him and made to lift his shirt. He stopped just short and shot Tony a questioning glance. Tony nodded “You might as well; it was your fault this time.” 

“I was trying to be convincing, it would have looked strange if I had had the opportunity to harm you and neglected it” Loki replied tersely. He pulled at the hem of the shirt and revealed the mess of bandages lining Tony’s abdomen. He frowned “I was not aware you were this damaged.”

“You threw me through a window again” Loki smiled slightly “You gotta get a new move babe, this one’s getting old real fast” Tony winced as Loki shifted the bandages out of the way revealing jagged lines of stiches. 

“Defenestration never loses its charm” Loki retorted and sat back on his heels “Now be still.”

“Technically you threw me into a building this time so does that still count or wha—Ah Fuck!” Tony was cut off as Loki applied his hand to the wound. It burned, as his organs fully healed and his stitches dissolved. Tony made to shove Loki away, he’d take the natural route with a healthy side of scotch thanks a fucking lot, but Loki was already done. He brought his hand up and away from his side and carded his fingers through Tony’s hair. 

“So fragile” Loki mumbled eyes focused on the newly healed pink skin “so breakable” Tony rolled his eyes.

“I get it Shakespeare, puny mortal I can squish with my Godly Norse boot” Tony grumbled but pushed his head against Loki’s cool hand. Loki’s particular brand of healing magic always seemed to make him slightly lethargic, his body completely relaxing under his care. The pain had gone as fast as it had overwhelmed him and all that was left was a pleasant tingling where the stiches had been.

Loki paused, his hand still in Tony’s hair and looked away from him.  
“I would notice your absence if you died” he said in a low voice, eyes determinedly fixed on the vast Manhattan skyline. Tony looked at the floor.

“Yeah, I er… would notice if you died too” This seemed to be all the confirmation Loki needed as he half crawled onto Tony’s lap, long legs partially dangling over the edge of the couch and settled his head on Tony’s chest, arms wrapping around him. Tony looked down at the mess of sprawled God, his lips quirking briefly and brought his arms up to match Loki’s gesture. Loki closed his eyes, completely at ease while Tony rubbed small circles into his back. 

Tony’s mind wouldn’t shut off as he pondered how the fuck they had got here and the changes in their er, relationship. It wasn’t that they hadn’t done this before. No one could have guessed but Loki was seriously into snuggling after sex and who the fuck was Tony to say no to a God. And sure they had spent time together without fucking, a lot of time now that Tony thought about it. But they rarely did this. It was fucking or bickering or showing off. Not this relaxed contact without intent. Tony hadn’t spent time just being with someone like this since Pepper and that had ended in flames far too easily. 

It had been hard for him after New York, his world getting infinitely bigger than he thought possible. He’d dream of falling and would be forced awake by the darkness of his own head. Pepper, sweet Pepper, he’d loved her and she’d returned it but it just wasn’t enough in the end. There was too much distance so they’d called it quits. Her world had gotten bigger too but she could cut those parts of her world out of her life and that came down to Tony. She still ran the show at Stark Industries and he still turned up to smile for the cameras and make shiny tech for the company. Just like old times. 

Tony had never planned to end up in a quasi-stable relationship with one of the world’s most wanted super criminals. But then Loki had shown up, already drunk and looking for a fight that never happened. Tony had offered him another drink and that time, he’d said yes. That was nearly two years ago, but after that first night Loki would show up every couple of weeks. Maybe Loki had been looking for a distraction. Tony sure had. 

They’d come up with their arrangement one morning when Tony had woken up and Loki was still there. His arms still firmly wrapped around his torso and holding him close, no cold and empty bed that usually greeted Tony after their nights together. They needed ground rules. Loki would continue to wreak minor havoc to stop the others getting suspicious and to stop himself dying of boredom (he was still the God of Mischief after all) and Tony would pretend to fight him. As long as Loki didn’t actually kill anyone it was all good, funny even, especially that time he’d turned the whole of SHIELD HQ pink, including Fury. That had been about 6 months ago.

Tony laughed softly at the memory of Fury in his hot pink trench coat and tried again to shut his mind off, focusing instead on the warm weight of Loki pressing into him. His eyes drifted shut, the booze and residual magic sending him into a dreamless sleep. 

***

The sound of a gun being taken off the safety was what woke Tony several hours later. Shit. He opened his eyes and was brought face to face with three furious looking Avengers, Natasha’s gun trained on Loki’s head. 

Loki’s body was still firmly pressed to his but the God was awake, muscles tense above him. Tony uncoiled himself from around Loki and put his hands up in a placating gesture.

“Agent Romanov” Loki said in a low voice “Lovely to see you again”

“Shut it Loki, Stark what the hell is going on?” She snapped, eyes not leaving Loki’s face. 

“Er, did I not mention I’m dating Loki? You know I could have sworn I sent a memo, or a fax? You guys should check that” Tony babbled nervously, fingers tapping against the arc reactor. “Maybe dating isn’t the word, we don’t really go to the movies do we Lokes? And come to think of it I don’t think I’ve used a fax since the late 90s” 

“Shut up Stark” Loki and Natasha said in unison. 

“See, you guys aren’t so different. Already ganging up on me” Tony tried to stop, he really did but this was worse than any scenario he could have thought of. Luckily for him, Loki pinched him and he fell silent. 

“On your feet” Steve called. Tony took in the Captain’s expression, his jaw was tight but he looked more sad than angry, perhaps he could be reasoned with. How the hell he was going to do that was another issue.

Without seeing another option Tony and Loki separated and with measured movements got to their feet. The ticked off Avengers held their positions.

“You’ve got about 30 seconds to explain what you did to him before I shoot you in the eye” Clint growled, his arrow pointed at Loki “whatever fuckin’ magic mojo shit you did, undo it now.”

Loki stared at the archer, Tony could see him calculating, finding the angle to use. He straightened to his full height 

“I have not used any magic on Tony Stark” Loki said calmly “he is not under my control” Ah, going with the truth. Tony felt his insides clench at the expressions on his friends faces -clearly Loki had shattered their first assumptions. 

“Bullshit, try again psycho” Clint snapped, he was losing any semblance of control he’d had “10 seconds” 

“I don’t have an answer that will satisfy you Hawk, that is the truth, whether you choose to believe it or not.” 

“Wrong answer” Clint bit and all hell broke loose. Clint fired but Loki had known it was coming, he sprang out the way. Natasha started firing her gun at him. 

“Fuck!” Tony yelled and barrelled into her, trying to push the gun from her hands. It was all he could do; he was almost useless in close combat without his suit. Natasha snarled and pushed back against him and they fell to the floor. Tony twisted in her grasp and managed to throw the gun away from her. 

Natasha was up quick as lightning, delivering a swift and hard kick to Tony’s ribs, he felt something crack. He cried out and Steve pulled him to his feet, holding his arms behind his back. He struggled against the hold but it was no good. Steve wasn’t letting go. He couldn’t do anything but watch the fight unfold in front of him. 

Loki was throwing up shields to protect himself from the arrows and sending back low power pulses of magic, doing all he could to dispel Clint without actually hurting him. 

“I need a direct channel to Director Fury. Now!” Tony heard Natasha shout, he turned to her. She held a finger up to her ear, activating the coms. 

“Look, Tasha can’t we leave SHEILD out of this?” Tony snapped at her, still straining against Steve’s hold. She stared him down, pulled her other gun from her holster and pointed it at him. “I know I fucked up. I should have told you, but he’s changed” 

“Where you not there today?” Steve exclaimed “That doesn’t look like change to me” 

“No one got hurt, doesn’t that seem a little strange to you?” Tony tried again

“How can you say that Tony, he threw you through a building! We foun¬¬d you in a puddle of your own blood!” Steve shouted, the grip on his hands tightening. 

“That was an accident!” Tony shouted back and swore “I know how it looks, but you have to trust me” 

“We can’t” Natasha said “Not like this” Tony sagged slightly in Steve’s grip. What the fuck was he supposed to do now? 

Tony heard glass shattering and the distinct crackling sound of Loki teleporting away. Oh. Yeah, Tony thought I’m fucked. 

“You can’t trust him Tony” Steve started “he’s –“ but Steve didn’t get a chance to finish, Loki materialised in front of them and using Steve’s momentary shock pulled Tony out of his grasp. The momentum pulled them back towards the windows and there they all stood. Fighting paused and staring at each other. 

Loki looked at Tony and very deliberately held out his hand. 

It seemed to get very quiet. Natasha pulled her hand away from her comm and focused entirely on the pair. Tony was clutching his ribs, breathing shallow and eyes wide, he looked from Loki’s outstretched hand to the group of people he could almost call family. 

“Think about what you’re doing Tony” Steve said softly. “You can’t come back from this.” His face was sad but hard. Tony knew he wasn’t lying. “If you go with him there isn’t anything I can do to help you, you’ll be completely compromised”

Tony looked around the group. Natasha so fiercely neutral in her expression, her gun still raised, ever the perfectly professional assassin. But Clint wouldn’t meet his eyes, just kept his bow trained on Loki.

“I think we’re past compromised Cap” Tony said and firmly grabbed Loki’s hand. They were gone in less than a second, but still enough time to hear a gunshot echo after them.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well I know I said a week, but I had this ready so thought I'd put it up today. Updates will not always be this regular though.  
> Again, this is un-beta'd so all mistakes are mine. Enjoy!

They rematerialized in the middle of nowhere, Tony landing ungracefully on his ass and further winding himself. He wheezed a little on the ground before Loki offered his hand to him. 

“Fuck Lokes, where are we?” Tony shivered taking Loki’s hand and allowing himself to be pulled to his feet. 

“Siberia” Loki replied, frustration tugging at his features. 

“Loki” Tony stared at him, still shivering “Why?" 

“It is not a permanent location, foolish mortal” Loki bit out and tugged Tony towards him “Now keep still Stark” 

So they were back to insults and last names. Great. Tony rolled his eyes but kept still anyway. Tony stiffened as he felt a cold current run through his entire body and had to resist the urge to jolt.

“What was tha—Whoa!” Loki moved strikingly fast, pulling his arm up had drawing a dagger from inside his coat. “Loki!” Tony yelped but before he could do anything Loki had cut into the flesh underneath his armpit. Tony gasped and struggled in Loki’s vice like grip. He opened his mouth to protest again but was halted by the sound of metal hitting the frozen ground. 

“Fucking what?!” Tony shouted, Loki placed his hand over the wound and instantly stopped the flow of blood. 

“A tracking device” Loki stated stooping to pick up the microchip. “Did you really think your Director would allow you to have surgery without placing one?” he rubbed his fingers over it, coating his hand with Tony’s blood. 

“Dammit Loki, give a guy some warning before you stab them!” Tony rubbed at his side furiously, unsure of what to do. 

“Be calm Stark, you cannot believe I would waste my time bringing you here just to kill you now.” Loki’s gaze was steady on him.

“Well no, but still” Tony most definitely did not whine. He met Loki’s eyes and sighed “what are we going to do? All of my things, my suits are back there”

Loki brought Tony to him, wrapping his arms around his shoulders. “We will think of something.” Tony leaned into to Loki’s touch and winced.

“I think Natasha broke one of my ribs” He grumbled pulling away and pressing a hand to his side. Loki huffed and slid his hand underneath Tony’s, zapping him with whatever Godly healing mojo he had working for him, with a sharp sting as his bones reformed.

“I think that is enough of my fixing your feeble body for one day” Loki smirked and pulled his hand away.

“Listen Princess, I am not feeble. Natasha’s almost a professional kick-boxer, she could probably break one of your ribs too” 

“Hardly” Loki said started to walk away from Tony. 

“Where are we going?” Tony said, scanning the landscape, they were standing in a wooded cove and all around him Tony could see tops of mountains peaking over the trees. 

“There is a cave nearby, do keep up” Loki strode along in front of him. Yeah, fuck that.

“I don’t know how they do it in Asgard Lokes, but here we’re not too big on sleeping in caves. In Siberia. In freakin’ February.” Loki turned to Tony, eyes flashing dangerously. 

“Did I not already explain that we are not staying here?” Tony made a non-committal movement and Loki sighed “Perhaps you have a concussion. We have to leave your tracking device somewhere and after all, I wouldn’t want to deprive Fury’s team of a trip to the middle of nowhere.” Tony grinned and caught up with Loki, tugging the microchip out of his hand. 

“We better put it somewhere deep then.” 

“You are insufferable” Loki sniped. 

“Yeah, but you love me anyway” Tony froze, that was something he hadn’t said before. He looked to Loki who seemed to have frozen in place just like himself. Tony opened his mouth to say something else, anything else but Loki beat him to it. 

“Yes. I suppose I do.” Loki said and met Tony’s eyes briefly before starting to pull away but before he could take a step Tony had wrapped his arms around him. He pulled Loki into a fierce kiss, messy and strikingly hot in the cold that surrounded them. Loki groaned and turned into him, his hands tugging Tony closer and bunching into his clothes. 

They broke away from each other, gasping and heated. Tony stared into Loki’s face, noting the pink flush on his high cheek bones and spit slicked lips.

“For what it’s worth” Tony said, voice rough “I er” he stopped, grasping with the words “I love you too Lokes” 

Loki smiled, small and personal. One that Tony really had to work to see.

“Come, you’ll freeze to death if you stay here and I don’t want a block of dead human for a companion” Loki said pulling them out of their moment. 

“At least I’d leave a pretty corpse” Tony laughed, following Loki through the clearing towards the base of a mountain. Loki laughed lightly in response.

“Ah yes, the last wish of the vain” He said scanning the surrounding area. Tony always got the feeling Loki could see more than he could, like he could spot things in nature Tony could only dream about. 

“You’re one to talk Princess, don’t forget I’ve seen how long it takes you to do your hair” Loki scowled and seemingly unconsciously flicked his hair back from his face.

“You can’t rush art Tony” He said completely seriously. 

They reached the base of the mountain, Tony lamenting his lack of suit as he saw the narrow path leading out of sight. 

“Lo’ are we gonna climb this thing cause my rock climbing course was every other Thursday around the year of never happened” Loki gave him a withering look. 

“You really are quite inept without your tin can” Loki teased “but no, we aren’t climbing anything” He moved down a side path Tony hadn’t noticed leading into darkness. They walked in silence for about half an hour, Tony finding his way by running a hand against the wall. He absolutely refused to hold onto Loki, he still had some pride. 

“Woah” Tony said, still willing his eyes to get used to the gloom “Are we going to meet the King of the Dead? Cause I think I left Andúril in Malibu” 

“Perhaps if we were to venture further my dear Gimli but I think this is far enough” 

Tony laughed, remembering he had made Loki watch the whole of the Lord of the Rings series 2 months ago. 

“Short jokes? Really?” Tony jumped when he felt Loki brush up next to him. 

“I will stop making them when they stop amusing me” Loki drawled.

“So, never” Tony sighed and leaned into Loki’s body “whatever makes you happy Thranduil”

“I am not blond Tony” Loki said pulling Tony’s hand into his as they leaned against the wall of the cave. 

“Do I look like a red head to you?” Tony laughed, he looked down at their intertwined fingers. 

“Touché” Loki said “We should leave now, I do not know how long it will take your Director to locate the tracker but there should be no trace of us when they arrive.”

Tony nodded and threw the microchip tracker into the darkness. The small noise of the metal hitting the ground rang in Tony’s head with a sense of finality.

“Where are we going to go?” Tony said, the gloom of his circumstance sinking down on him once again. 

“New York” Loki said, Tony could tell by the twist of his words that Loki was smirking.

“Last place they’ll look” Tony nodded to himself “So I guess this means I finally get to see where you live” He grinned “placing my bet now, you have too much green furniture”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the comments and kudos, they make me so happy you have no idea. The explicit rating becomes relevant at this point, just a heads up. Happy reading!

“Ha! I was right” Tony crowed looking around the spacious apartment “fuckin’ green everywhere!” and it was true, every large window in sight was draped in dramatic green swathes of satiny material, the walls were almost golden but the carpet was green too.

Tony turned and grinned at Loki “Looks like you built a shrine to yourself Lokes, what was that you said about me being vain” 

“Your phallic tower has your name emblazoned across it” Loki sniped back “This is hardly the same thing. Regardless, my vanity holds no water compared to your narcissism” 

Tony chuckled and kept smiling. This was what he wanted, Loki is the only person Tony had ever met that could throw jibes back at him consistently and not get tired of the game, or of him. That’s all it really was when it came down to it, a game, a fight and a willing partner. Tony scanned the room again, noting his brand of scotch on the kitchen counter next to a solitary glass. He felt an involuntary warmth bloom across his chest, it was the brand he’d given Loki the first time he’d come looking for him and what Loki had drank every time he’d visited afterward. Tony had no idea Loki liked enough to have his own supply. He looked back to the huffy Trickster and walked towards him. 

“Aw, don’t be mad Princess” Tony pulled Loki to him and wrapped his arms around his waist “It’s very…er God-like” Loki laughed into Tony’s hair “all you need now is a few worshipers and you could set up a new church” 

Loki tilted Tony’s face towards him with a graceful hand and Tony locked eyes with him. 

“Perhaps I already have a worshipper here” Loki said smoothly and Tony felt a jolt in his abdomen, arousal beginning to coil. 

“Have you been watching porn again Lokes? Cause that sounded like a line” Tony’s voice was a little bit rough making the trickster God grin wickedly. 

“I have been alive for centuries Tony, I don’t need your Midgardian porn know what to say to you” Loki countered then leaned in next to Tony’s ear “but yes, my dear. I have been indulging” he whispered then flicked his tongue over the soft skin behind Tony’s earlobe. 

Tony ripped his head back from Loki’s tongue and went for his mouth, their kiss feral. It was Loki who forced the first moan out of Tony, as his hands trailed down his back and grabbed at his ass. 

“Bedroom?” Loki whispered into Tony’s mouth, breaking the kiss. Tony shook his head and attacked Loki’s lips with his own again before trailing down his neck, sucking a red mark onto Loki’s pale skin. Loki made a noise of agreement and bucked into Tony, but he firmly gripped Loki’s hips and guided him against the wall before sinking to his knees, 

“Bedroom’s too far” Tony looked up at Loki, his pupils dilated and mouth hanging slightly open “Need to taste you now” Loki groaned again and grabbed hold of Tony’s hair.

“You are perfect on your knees for me” Loki growled as Tony pushed his face against Loki’s leather trousers, mouthing over the shape of his rapidly hardening cock. Loki pushed a hand into Tony’s messy hair, holding steady. After fully wetting the leather and drawing another soft noise from his God, Tony reached up and started to pull at the fastenings, succeeding in pushing them down far enough for Loki’s cock to spring forth. He wasted no time wrapping his lips around the swollen head, sending a vibrating moan down Loki’s shaft as he felt him fully harden in his mouth. 

“By the Nine, Tony” Loki cried as Tony sucked down his cock, pressing the flat of his tongue against him as he went. He gripped the base of Loki’s shaft with his hand and pumped him slowly. Loki hummed in approval and carded his hands through Tony’s hair again, encouraging him to take more of him into his mouth. Tony teased him, his tongue tracing patterns then hollowing his cheeks, sucking Loki thoroughly but still keeping up a slow pace. 

Letting out a frustrated groan Loki pushed Tony off him and pulled him to his feet, panting and desperate looking. 

“Enough teasing” Loki said and Tony flashed his best smile. 

“I wouldn’t dream of it babe” Loki pulled him into another kiss and before Tony knew what was happening he’s was being pushed down onto soft white sheets. “I fucking love magic” Tony grumbled against Loki’s mouth. He hummed in reply and pulled Tony’s shirt over his head, revealing the glow of the arc reactor. Loki’s hands roamed everywhere, running up and down his sides and along the v of his hips, his expression possessive as his eyes skimmed over the tanned skin of Tony’s chest and down towards his crotch. Tony unbuttoned his jeans and Loki pulled them the rest of the way off him throwing them across the room. “You’re wearing too many clothes” Tony said and in an instant Loki was leaning over him without a stich on. Tony stared up at his God, “much better, now tell me what you want Loki” 

Loki gave him a wicked smile,

“I would have you spread open and crying for out for me to fill you” Tony pressed himself against his lover just to hear the moan Loki tried to swallow. 

“Are you sure you won’t be begging me?” Tony teased, he rocked his hips up again before moving his hand down and pressing it between them pumping Loki’s cock against his own, ruining his calm façade by whimpering slightly.

“Well yes” Loki said, and despite Tony’s efforts his voice was clearer than it should have been. He moved Tony’s hand away and pushed his own between Tony’s legs, running a finger over the tops his thighs. His hand continued to tease over his skin and Tony shivered, trying to shift to bring himself closer to where he wanted Loki’s touch “Look at you, so eager for me” Loki drawled, still sounding too in control. He rubbed a now lubed finger over Tony’s entrance, teasingly and without applying enough pressure to push in. For the second time in 10 minutes Tony thanked the unorthodox use of magic to aid their fucking. He was just thinking what else they could do with it when Loki pressed a finger into him, causing him to cry out at the sudden pressure.

“Is this what you want Stark?” Loki’s finger stretched his entrance “All you have to do is ask and I will grant you more. I’m a benevolent God”

Tony stayed quiet, not ready to relinquish complete control. Loki, sensing his resistance, rubbed his cock along Tony’s thigh and started to slowly thrust his finger in and out of his lover. Tony keened but still didn’t answer. Loki curved his finger looking for the little bundle of nerves he knew would make Tony scream. And he was right; Tony bit his lip and looked down to where Loki’s hand was, watching him move inside of him.

“Please” Tony bit out, he’d lost the game but he couldn’t bring himself to care. Loki complied, entering another finger and scissoring them, getting him ready for his cock. Tony bucked down against his touch, willing Loki to take him but Loki pulled away. Tony spluttered and glared up at his God.

“On your knees” Loki said, his eyes burning a hole through his lover. Tony felt another snap of arousal go through him at Loki’s words and followed his instruction; he turned onto his front and pushed his ass up. He felt so deliciously vulnerable, presenting himself to Loki like that.

Tony’s compliance had the desired effect as Loki growled and ran his hands over the flesh of his ass. Loki’s fingers returned to his entrance and the God leant over him, fucking him deliberately with his fingers before adding a third. Tony moaned and fucked himself back on Loki’s hand, the sensation zapping over his body and willing him to get more. 

“Enough, Loki fuck me” Tony moaned again, resting his head again his arms “now!” he commanded and Loki removed his fingers, lining up the head of his cock to Tony’s waiting hole. He pressed forward, the head of his cock breaching him and Tony shouted out, Loki was not small, certainly bigger than his fingers and Tony could feel the stretch as his body fought to accommodate the intrusion. Loki moaned above him, bringing his hands to hold on to Tony’s hips as he thrust the rest of the way inside him.

“Oh god” Tony called out as he was completely filled; Loki’s hips flush against his own. He started to rock his hips, deep thrusts that left Tony gasping. The drag of Loki’s cock thrusting in and out of him felt incredible as he built a slow rhythm, but it wasn’t enough. The way Tony was feeling he needed more. “Loki faster, please!” Tony cried and Loki laughed, 

“And you were so sure you wouldn’t be the one to beg this time” Loki’s voice dripped sex, losing his perfect composure.

“Next time it’s all you babe” Tony growled but Loki picked up the pace, the angle allowing Loki to hit Tony’s prostate dead on causing Tony let out another gasp.

“We shall see” Loki panted, hands digging into the flesh of Tony’s ass possessively

Tony knew he wasn’t going to last long. “Just like that” he cried into his hands, Loki moaned at Tony’s broken voice.

Loki delivered a particularly hard thrust and relished the fresh moans ripped from Tony’s throat. “You fight it, but you will always end up here” Loki leant in “and you love it” Tony cried out and brought his hand to his own leaking cock, he could feel his orgasm coiling in his belly and started to pump himself in time with Loki’s thrusts.

Loki gripped his arms around Tony’s chest and pulled him up so he was sitting in the God’s lap, forcing Tony deeper onto his cock and causing them both to groan. “Ride me” Loki commanded and Tony pulled Loki into a messy kiss as he started to move his hips. Loki replaced Tony’s hand with his own on his cock, summoning lube to appear on his hand as he stroked him. 

Tony shut his eyes, his head swimming as he revelled in Loki’s touch. Loki ran his thumb over the head of Tony’s cock and it was all too much for him. He sobbed, fucking himself down hard and letting go, covering Loki’s hand and parts of his chest with ropes of hot come. Loki gasped as Tony clenched around him, bringing him over the edge as well. He fucked Tony through his orgasm before spilling inside his lover, thrusting a few more times and filling Tony up. 

They held their position for a moment, kissing each other softly in the wake of their pleasure before Loki pulled Tony of his softening cock, Tony groaned as he felt Loki withdrawing from him. They collapsed onto the bed, sweaty and satisfied and Loki pulled Tony into his arms. 

“Mine” Loki whispered as he held Tony close to him. Tony looked up at his God and felt again that warmth blooming over his chest.

“Love you too Lokes” Tony whispered back. Loki kissed the top of Tony’s head and closed his eyes, sex addled brain pulling him down into unconsciousness. Sleep never came that easy for Tony. 

It seemed he’d opened a door, saying those three little words. Now he’d said it once, Tony liked the way the words felt on his tongue. But no, Tony Stark had some dignity would not become a broken record for fear of doodling Loki’s name on business memos. Pepper would kill him, Tony mused absently. He was about to try and follow Loki into sleep but the thought shocked him back to full consciousness. 

Pepper was going to kill him anyway. Tony groaned lightly enough not to wake Loki and rubbed his hands over his face.

He’d fucked up, he’d fucked up so bad he didn’t know where to start. His company, his friends…his whole life, the way things looked from here, it was all gone. If he couldn’t fix things, if he couldn’t convince them Loki wasn’t the monster they thought he was, Tony was well and truly screwed. 

And things had been going so well. The ice that had covered the first few months after his break up with Pepper had completely thawed, hell she was dating someone new and it wasn’t even awkward. Things had been getting on well in Stark Tower too, Tony had finally convinced Clint to stop sleeping in weird high places—he’d nearly given him a heart attack when he’d gone to make coffee at 4 am and Clint had been passed out on the top of the fridge. Steve made awesome group meals every week and they even had the occasional poker game, no one had beaten Natasha yet but fuck, Tony had gotten pretty close. 

Tony’s stomach twisted anxiously and he pulled away from Loki’s sleeping form. He stood up and walked into what he thought was a bathroom. 

It turned out to be a closet. 

Of fucking course Loki had a walk in closet the size of his actual bedroom. Tony rubbed his hand over his face again and tried to stop his grin, it was the same shade of green as the rest of the apartment. To the side lay the clothes Loki was wearing earlier. Huh, thought Tony, so that’s where they get zapped to. He moved through the rows of clothing, absently stroking the soft material hanging along the walls before reaching what seemed to be a laundry pile. With a little huff he unceremoniously dropped himself onto it. Tony winced as his ass connected with a leather studded something and cursed at it as he chucked across the room. 

Yep, Tony thought, this is as good a place as any to wallow in the mess he’d made. That and to start to think how to fix it. First thing he needed to do? Get the suit.


	4. Chapter 4

Tony padded back through the closet and into the darkened bedroom, his eyes searching for his discarded clothes. After picking up the tousled items as quietly as he could he walked back to the closet to dress himself. Eugh. The clothes weren’t exactly fresh by this point and Tony grimaced as he shrugged himself into the dirty t-shirt. But hey, he thought to himself—he’d had worse, at least these weren’t covered in oily sand. Maybe he could borrow a jacket to cover it up, bet Loki had a fucking ton. 

Tony pulled out his Stark Phone from the pocket of his jeans, thanking Science he’d spent so long making sure it was not only untraceable by anyone other than himself but wouldn’t break if it was sat on, dropped in water or thrown out of a window by a pissed off Norse deity—basic precautions. 

Tony pressed the phone to his ear. 

“JARVIS, you with me buddy? Daddy’s got some orders”

“Always sir” JARVIS replied 

“Protocol 67” Tony said, looking through Loki’s extensive jacket collection before pulling out a leather one Tony was pretty sure was Armani. He pulled it on, switching his phone to the other hand to hear JARVIS’S reply.

“The Jailbreak protocol sir?” JARVIS asked

“That’s the one—who was the last log in on my floor?” 

“4.56 am, Miss Romanoff used her passcode to enter the floor. She left at 5.10 am. Your rooms have been undisturbed since”

Why had Natasha come back, did she think he’d return so soon? She had got to know him uncomfortably well in the time she’d spent lying her pretty ass off at Stark Industries—Tony trusted her a lot more now than he had done before she moved into Stark Tower, but she was still Fury’s number one spy. If his secrets had secrets, so did hers. 

“I’ll be at the service entrance in…28 minutes. Run camera loops for SHIELD, you can bet they’ll be monitoring” 

“Yes sir” Tony pressed the end call button on his phone and placed it back in his pocket. He breathed deeply. It’s all fine he repeated in his head a couple times. This was why he had set up the damn protocols to begin with and to be honest a little part of him knew there would come a time he couldn’t get away with something. That something just so happened to be Loki. 

Tony looked into the mirror and zipped the jacket up, it was slightly too long in the arms but it fit pretty well. Tony walked back in the bedroom and considered waking Loki. He looked at him long and hard, his hair had fanned out over the stark white pillow making Tony want to run his fingers through it, it shouldn’t be possible to look that much like a male perfume model after fucking like that but that was all part of Loki’s perks. Eventually Tony decided to leave him sleeping, it wasn’t like he needed help with everything a proud little part of his mind supplied. He scrawled a note in case Loki did wake up and swiped a key he hoped was for the front door— he wouldn’t be long Tony thought as he shut the door, Loki probably won’t even notice. 

***

The service entrance to Stark Tower was disserted as Tony pulled out his phone and held it next to the security pad. There was a quiet beep and a soft green light as JARVIS recognised his phone signature and accessed a random employee number from the Stark Industries database.

“Thanks J” Tony mumbled quietly as he pushed the door open and made his way through the empty back corridors to the elevator. He held his phone up to the pad and again waited for the comforting beep to let him know JARVIS still had everything under control. 

Tony stepped into the elevator and pressed the button to the penthouse. He leaned back against the cool mirror and started tapping on his reactor, trying yet again to slow his mile a minute mind. 

First thing—the workshop, if he only left with one thing it had to be his portable suit. He’d fixed it up after Monaco, increased its tolerance for energy overload and sped up the assembly time. He didn’t need much, almost everything he could buy again or wait to use once this shit storm had blown over. Tony hit his head back against the glass with a soft thunk. He’d talk it out with Loki when he got back—maybe they could talk to Bruce. Over the phone, from an undisclosed location, fair enough away that they would be safe from any potential Hulk-outs. As cool as it had been to know what kind of damage Loki’s body could take without killing him, he didn’t want to try it again. Let alone see what the Other guy would do to his regular armour. Tony lamented that the Hulk-buster armour wouldn’t be available for that conversation. 

Or what about Thor? Would he be happy or pissed Tony had been screwing his villainous baby brother. And hadn’t told him about it. For almost two years. Maybe Thor wasn’t the best place to start. Besides, who the fuck knew when he’d turn up. He’d been on and off Earth pretty regularly since they’d got their magic rainbow bridge fixed up but Avengers HQ wasn’t exactly his first stop these days, he still spent most of his time in New Mexico. 

The elevator dinged at the penthouse level and Tony walked out into the living room. The furniture was askew and one of the panel windows had a nice new crack. Tony rubbed the back of his head and jogged over to the staircase leading to his workshop, he needed to get in and out as quick as possible. Tony tapped in the emergency code and pushed open the workshop doors, DUM-E whirred happily and Tony gave the bot an affectionate pat before moving further to find the fold-away suit. The robot chirped along behind him, the only noise in the low lit room. 

Tony grabbed the suit case and jogged back up the stairs to his bedroom. Yanking an ugly painting Pepper had insisted was important off the wall, he revealed the safe holding his passport and emergency supplies. Tony laughed a little when he took the passport—it was kinda redundant what with having a teleporting boyfriend but whatever. 

He shoved anything important and a couple changes of clothes into a duffle bag he found in his closet and decided it was time to split. Tony walked back through the penthouse back to the living room, he was just about to press the elevator button when a soft cough came from behind him. Tony froze in place. 

“Hello Tony” Natasha’s soft voice drifted towards him. He turned round slowly and there she was sitting on the same couch she had discovered them on earlier. “Let’s talk” She said fixing him with a warm gaze. 

“Thought we were done talking” Tony said, tugging his over-confident smile onto his face.

“Not if there are still things to be said” She gestured to the opposite couch but Tony didn’t budge.

“How many are here?” 

“It’s just you and me”

Tony laughed “Don’t treat me like an asshole Tasha, I bet you say that to all the guys”

Natasha rolled her eyes “Usually you’d be right, but this time you’re special” 

“Is that what you said to Bruce in Calcutta too?”

“No offense Tony, but you’re not as hard to neutralize as Bruce” She paused “But I’m not here to do that. I just want to talk” 

Tony dithered for a moment. If he wanted to convince her Loki wasn’t actually Lord Voldemort this was the time to do it. He nodded and crossed the room, sitting down opposite her, but he didn’t take his hands off the suit. Natasha looked at it and raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything. Tony had to restrain himself from tapping his foot. 

“So talk” Tony said, looking Natasha over.

“How long?” She asked him.

“A couple months after New York” Tony said and she blinked at him “Didn’t think I could do long term Romanoff?” 

“Frankly, no I didn’t” She said and paused, looking uncomfortable “Tony, you’re my friend and I don’t want you to get hurt, so I have to ask, does he love you the way you love him?” 

Tony’s eyebrows flew up. That was way more direct then he was expecting.

“Yes…” Tony’s insides squirmed, fuck he’d only just told Loki—he wasn’t sure he was comfortable people pinning him like that but he had sort of runaway with Loki like a chick in a romance novel so it was kinda obvious “I think so” Tony finished lamely, rubbing a hand through his hair.

“And he’s told you that?” Natasha questioned. 

“Yeah—“ Tony started but Natasha cut him off.

“You mean you got Loki, God of Lies, to actually say those three little words?” 

“Yeah—“ Tony cut his own sentence off, his words dying in his mouth as he thought about the last few hours. Loki hadn’t actually said it, but it didn’t mean he didn’t love him. Right? 

“I know he does” Tony said determinedly. Natasha fixed him with a pitying stare.

“We’re insects to him Tony. You know that, you’ve read the reports and you’ve seen the footage. He’s—” Tony cut her off this time, irritation bubbling up within him.

“Of course I’ve seen the footage, hell I’ve heard plenty megalomaniac speeches in person but here’s the thing, it’s different now—he’s different.” Tony faltered slightly, when did he start sounding like a teenager? “He hasn’t killed anyone in months” Tony winced, noting how stupid that sounded “He’s barely done anything at all” 

“Let’s say you’re right for a moment and he has changed” Tony opened his mouth to talk but Natasha held up a hand to silence him. Tony waited; this wasn’t going how he wanted it to. 

“Asgardian’s live for thousands of years Tony. Our lifetimes are like a blink for them. Do you really think he’d get attached to someone who’ll be dead before he’s aged a day?” 

Tony felt like she’d slapped him. He never even considered the difference in their life spans, sure he knew Loki was a God but he’d have known if Loki didn’t care, right?

“Thor’s seemed to manage” Tony countered defensively. 

“True. But do you think Loki’s like Thor?” Tony held his lips in a thin line, refusing to answer her. She continued “I care about you Tony and I don’t want this is to end badly for you. In 10, 20 years is Loki still going to be there? He’s got nothing but time and you’re running out every day.” 

Tony stared out the cracked window pane watching the world brighten with the new day before answering her. He felt a little sick.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen but I’m going to see where it takes me”

Natasha sighed, looking defeated.

“The longer you keep this up, the worse it’s going to be Tony. If you hand yourself in now, it can be easier—I might even be able to get you house arrest here but if you wait Tony, the best I could get you is a padded cell”

Tony laughed. 

“I think I’ll take door number 3” He said getting up and walking towards the elevator “Good talk” 

“See you soon Tony” Natasha called after him.

He turned his head back and shot her his best smile.

“No you won’t” He said and stepped into the opening elevator doors. As soon as the doors shut, his smile fell away. Fuck. 

First thing he needed to do was get clear of the building. Natasha had said they were alone, but he wouldn’t put it past her to have SHIELD agents waiting in the lobby. He pulled his phone out.

“What the fuck JARVIS, you said the penthouse was clear” 

“Apologies Sir, it seems Miss Romanoff has corrupted some of my data”

“Fuck, how did she even know how to do that!” Tony fumed “J, internal sweep—what else has she screwed with?”

“Miss Romanoff’s damage seemed to be limited sir” Tony gave a sigh of relief

“Check the garage level, and burst a pipe in the lobby. I need a distraction and people will be coming in to work now” 

“Yes sir” there was a short delay while JARVIS did what he told “All clear” 

The elevator reached the basement level and Tony rushed over to his black Audi R8. Before getting in the car, he pulled out some nano-film from his duffle bag and placed it over the number plates to change them. If he couldn’t be discrete with his car choice, he could at least be sensible. Satisfied with his work Tony got in the front seat and peeled out of the garage and onto the main roads feeling like a block of ice had settled in his stomach.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sorry for not being better at updating this, I'll try not to leave it that long again!

Tony stopped his car about a block away from Loki’s apartment and just sat there, still gripping the steering wheel. His thoughts looping back around Natasha’s questions until all that was left were a few sound bites

_Thousands of years_

_Will he still be there?_

_Does he actually love you Tony?_

He didn’t know how long he sat there but he was eventually brought out of his reverie by a dull ache in his hands. He looked down and saw where he had gripped the steering wheel, his knuckles were white. Tony shook his head and detached himself, clicking his fingers a few times to get the blood flow working again. Don’t let her in, Tony thought, this is what she wants. But what if she was right? Was Natasha playing an angle or did she actually care about him?

“This is why people aren’t friends with spies” Tony groaned.

He rubbed his hands over his face in frustration. He hadn’t even thought as far ahead as she’d talked about. Could this relationship even _work_ for the next 20 years? He turned his life upside down without even figuring out what Loki’s view looked like.

Maybe she was right. Fuck, Tony didn’t _know_ how long Asgardians—or Jotuns— for that matter lived. He didn’t know how old Loki was now. It hadn’t been easy, slipping into their relationship—the beginning was full of thinly veiled threats and name-calling. While in truth that hadn’t really changed, somewhere along the line Tony had let his guard down and let that infuriating and brilliant man into his head and what was left of his heart.

He’d thought Loki had done the same, they’d spent hours talking about Loki’s history and yeah, he’d clammed up when they got to Thor—there were too many mixed emotions there— but he had told him a bit about Odin. There was no way Loki would have let him in if it meant nothing, right? 

_It has to mean something_ Tony thought miserably.

_Distraction_ a little voice in his head whispered sounding curiously like Natasha’s.

Was this all it was to Loki, a little distraction? Like a friend you make at a bar but never actually see again. The span of their relative lives considered, it could be.

Tony shook his head and started the car again, pulling up to Loki’s building and parking in the garage. If SHIELD had followed him, he was fucked anyway. It didn’t matter anymore.  He looked at the elevator and opted for the stairs instead, he needed the time. What the fuck was he going to say anyway?

_Hey Loki, remember how I said I love you and you didn’t really say it back is it cause you never meant it anyway? Also by the way, are you gonna disappear as soon as my hair turns grey?_

Yeah. No.

Tony spent the rest of his climb to the fifth floor looping back around what to say to and always arrived at the same place. He was out of time and out of ideas. Fuck.

He had barely put the key in the door when it flung open to reveal a furious looking Loki.

“Why by the Nine would you go there without me?” Loki said, his voice low and dangerous.

Tony stiffened for a second before he felt that familiar self-defensive rage bubble up inside of him. _Hurt him, hurt him before he can hurt you_ a sharp little voice said.  

“What, do I need your permission to go somewhere without you?” He bit out, pushing past Loki and into the kitchen, dropping his duffle on the floor and turning to look at the now confused god.

“Of course you don’t you idiot.” Loki glared daggers at him. As long as they weren’t Loki’s real daggers, Tony was still on safe ground.

“Surprise as it may be for you, I don’t actually need your help” Tony snapped at him.

Loki blinked at him, and Tony saw something flicker in his eyes but it was gone just as quickly.

“That is most informative, thank you for letting me know Stark, but could it have slipped your mind that you are now on the run, and marauding into your home like Thor on a raid might not have been the best idea!”  

“Nothing happened. I got back fine and now I have the suit” Tony said, gesturing to the bags he’d brought with him.

Loki looked at him, pausing for a minute before his face began to close off.

“You’re lying to me” He said simply.

“What so you’re the only one allowed to do that now?” Tony said, aiming for flippant but the words came out hurt. _Oh no, this is so not how I wanted this to go_ Tony thought.

“I don’t know what you mean Stark, I have not been lying to you. But please do enlighten me as to why are you _lying to me_ ” Loki got closer to him as if he was trying to coax out the words by sheer proximity.

“Someone was at the Tower” Tony said after a long minute and Loki sighed “But if I were followed they would be here by now”

“How do you think I knew where you had gone” Loki snapped and picked up what Tony recognised as a small SHIELD communicator from the kitchen counter “They will be here in less than 7 minutes. I am pleased you have gathered your little toys as it appears we won’t be able to stay in your blasted city after all” he threw the communicator back onto the counter with such force that it bounced up again and smashed into the bottle of scotch, sending shards of glass flying onto the floor.

Loki glared at the remains of the bottle like it had exploded spontaneously and prowled into the bedroom.   

“If you knew SHIELD was coming why didn’t you just fucking say so!” Tony shouted after the God’s back. 

“I would have if you hadn’t been so quick to tell me how little you need my assistance” Loki shouted back. 

Tony ran a hand through his hair in frustration. 

“Well maybe if you didn’t treat me like an idiot I wouldn’t have to remind you I can handle shit on my own occasionally” 

Loki stalked back into the kitchen with his own bag and stopped a short distance from him.

“You are an idiot Stark, and you don’t even know why” Loki said, eyes blazing.

Tony laughed without humour “Is it because I trusted you?”

Loki straightened “Is that truly what you think?” his words were quiet but strong, and they burnt a hole of guilt through Tony’s stomach. “If you regret coming with me Tony, you only need say so”

“I don’t regret it” Tony answered quietly after a moment. He’d paused for too long, Tony could feel it in the air around them.

“I am leaving, take—” Loki started in a dull tone and Tony’s stomach dropped.

“Take what? I swear to God Loki if you say take care, I’m gonna lose it” Tony choked out; cutting Loki off.  Loki looked over Tony’s face, and took a breath before he answered him.

“I was going to say take my hand” he paused again, face still closed off “unless you are still undecided and wish me to go by myself”

He let the silence hang between them again before he spoke. How was he supposed to tell Loki what he meant?    

“No, I don’t want you to go alone” Tony finally said, not meeting Loki’s gaze. He picked up his bag and case, before he finally decided he couldn’t avoid it anymore. “Lead the way Rudolph” His tone had been trying for light but his humour fell between them like a dead weight. 

Loki just nodded once and took Tony’s hand. They were gone in second, both knowing they could not come back.

 

***

 

 1 minute later SHEILD agents in full body armour broke down the door and ran through the apartment scanning for any sign of the errant billionaire and his super criminal lover. They were too late, the apartment was empty. Fury strode into the room, black coat billowing behind him with Natasha in tow.

He came to a stop in same spot Tony and Loki had been only shortly before and turned to his best Agent.

“Seems I struck a nerve” Natasha said simply, noting the jagged shards of glass and spilled alcohol on the wooden floor. 

“Seems you have” Fury replied “But your timing was off” Fury kicked a piece of broken glass aside “Do I need to start worrying about you too?” He fixed her with a stare.

“No sir” Natasha said evenly, holding the Director’s gaze

“Do you think he bought what you were selling?” Fury asked

“He’s doubting his choices” Natasha said “Look at this place, they’ve been fighting”

“Won’t be long until he comes back” Fury ground the heel of his boot into another shard of glass, crushing it into the carpet “and leads us to Loki” He said and walked back out of the apartment.

Natasha watched him go before kneeling down to pick up a shard of broken bottle.

“What are you doing Tony?” Natasha said to the empty room before turning and following her boss.  

 


	6. Chapter 6

Tony gasped in relief when his lungs filled with air again; the teleporting never failed to make him stumble. Without Loki’s hand supporting him, he fell to his knees on what felt like solid rock and bit out a curse into the cold air.  

 Tony lifted his head and let out a yelp. He was far too close to the edge of an impressively steep cliff, a frozen lake miles beneath them. He staggered backwards on his hands and knees, falling far enough away from the edge that he didn’t feel like a strong gust of wind could push him over. 

“Fuck!” Tony yelled out, his heart beat frantic in his ears “Loki, where are we now?” 

There was a beat of silence and Loki didn’t answer him. Tony ripped his eyes away from the edge of the cliff and scrambled to his feet. For a second, Tony’s heart clenched horribly at the thought that Loki wouldn’t be there if he turned around.

_Please be there_ he thought and looked for his god. He was there, but Loki wasn’t looking at him. He stood, a tall and tense figure against the jagged skyline, the snowy wind whipping his dark hair harshly.              

Tony took a step forward and paused. He didn’t know what to do, should he try to touch him? There was no relationship precedent for this. He knew what to do if Loki was annoyed at him sure, but this? This couldn’t be worked on by getting Loki a rare edition of some book or kissing the space behind his ear that never failed to bring at least a little smile. This was beyond him. 

So there they stood, each not saying a word, letting the wind do the howling for them. Tony was beginning to think they’d be living on the frozen rock forever when Loki turned round and stared straight at him.

“What did she say to you?” Loki said, his voice was level but his eyes were gleaming. They seemed so much greener in the cold and pallid landscape. 

“Does it really matter?” Tony said and kicked a rock closer to the edge of the cliff. It teetered on the edge for a second before falling out of sight.

_That’s a great way to start, fuckin’ genius_ Tony grumbled internally.  

“Clearly it does.” Loki moved closer to him. “It must have been Romanoff or you wouldn’t have listened…and if it was Romanoff, she’s found a place inside your head.”

Tony looked away from the cliff edge and to Loki’s face. 

“It was Natasha,” He said finally. “She was waiting for me when I got back from the lab… and I – she,” Tony faltered. How could he say it? He’d rather have Loki be angry then have him say that Natasha was right. It was enough to know Loki wouldn’t be staying long and Tony didn’t want to hear him say it.   

Loki brought his hand up to Tony’s face and smoothed it over his furrowed brow, he hadn’t even noticed he was frowning.  The soft touches continued, lining his cheeks and over his jaw before tilting his chin up to look at him fully. Tony had always loved how tactile Loki was when he wanted to be, it was something others didn’t get to see. 

“Please,” Loki whispered, his touch seemed to burn Tony’s skin against the cold “Don’t push me away Tony.” 

Tony shut his eyes “That’s what you’ll do to me.” he said, his words acrid against his own tongue. 

Loki grabbed his hands and held them fast, the jolt forcing Tony to open his eyes and look back at his god.  He looked… confused. Huh. 

“I am not pushing you away,” Loki said. 

“Not now maybe, but you will.” He hated each syllable “There’s gonna be a time Lokes, when you wake up and realise I’m not a young as I was and you decide there’s better out there for you. I can’t make you stay with me, and you know what, I wouldn’t _want_ to make you stay with me.” He suddenly felt so tired, like pulling the words out of himself had completely drained him. 

Tony tugged his hands away and walked a few paces “How much is my life even worth compared to yours? Fuck, don’t answer that. I don’t wanna know.” 

Loki stormed after him and whipped him around, his grasp on Tony’s wrist firm and unyielding. 

“Your life is worth more than mine Tony Stark.” Loki said determinedly “I would not be here with you if your life wasn’t worth more than I deserve, and do not think that something as _changeable_ as death would keep me from you.” 

Tony froze under Loki’s fierce gaze. “I don’t understand,” he said finally. 

Loki groaned and pulled Tony into his body. “For a genius, you are incredibly dense,” Loki said into Tony’s ear. “I am telling you that I am not leaving you to rot in this miserable world. I am far too selfish to let that happen.” 

Tony brought his hands around his god, letting the last few hours of tension roll off of his body as he fell into Loki. 

“Good. Cause I don’t think I could let you go.” Tony said, his voice came out hoarse and wrecked. He still didn’t know what the fuck had just happened, but he knew that Loki would be there while he figured it out. Tony pulled back from Loki only long enough to reach his lips and kiss him. Loki kissed him back in turn, deepening and letting his tongue play with his. 

They pulled away to breathe, Loki looking as determined as his words, and laughter bubbled up inside Tony. He couldn’t control it, it came spilling out of him completely untameable. Loki looked on, utterly bemused as Tony clutched his stomach. 

“You are a so strange to me sometimes. What is so funny?” Loki asked him, one eyebrow raised.  

“Where the fuck _are we_ Loki? Did you have to bring us to the most _dramatic_ place you could think of?” 

Loki looked around as if just noticing the grey skies and sheer drop, his lips twitched and it set Tony off again but this time Loki joined him, their laughter echoing around the vast wilderness. 

Tony got a hold of himself first, and tugged Loki closer to him again, feeling the last vibrations of his laugh fill his chest. 

“When have you ever known me not to make things as _interesting_ as possible?” Loki snarked at him, burying his face in his hair. 

“I guess I knew that already,” Tony grinned and shivered despite himself. It was still February and snow was steadily falling from the dark clouds above them.  

“So Lokes, where are we really, and where are going?” 

“We are in Norway, Little Stark.” Loki smirked down at him “And we are going to another one of my residences.” 

“Right, and are we walking cause I don’t see much of a trail.” Tony said, scanning the other – not deadly end of the cliff. Loki rolled his eyes. 

“No, get your things. It is too far to walk, I misjudged the distance.” Tony blinked for a second and then realised he meant the bags. He’d completely forgotten about the stupid things. 

“You don’t misjudge anything, you wanted to make a scene,” Tony quipped 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Loki replied unconsciously holding his chin a little higher  

They walked over to pile of bags, still holding onto each other and Tony scooped up his stuff. 

“Is there any way we could do this without it feeling like I need a lung transplant after?” Tony asked him, even though he already knew the answer. 

“No,” Loki said simply, then paused and added “You will get used to it though, I barely feel anything.”  

“You’ve probably been doing it for thousands of years,” grumbled Tony 

“Hardly.  A mere few centuries,” Loki retorted 

“That makes me feel so much better,” Tony rolled his eyes “Are you ever gonna let me know how old you are?” 

Loki looked at him pensively “The only reason you didn’t know what because you didn’t ask. I never misled you.” 

“Still not an answer Lokes.” Tony nudged him in the side. 

“In your Midgardian years I am just over 1000 years old.”    

Tony blinked then shook his head “I don’t know what I was expecting. You look good for a fossil.” 

Loki snorted a laugh and pulled Tony close to him letting darkness surround them as they left the cliff side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! please leave a comment, they make my day you have no idea :)


	7. Chapter 7

The first thing Tony noticed when they rematerialized was that he hadn’t landed ass first on the ground yet. Loki was still firmly holding on to him, keeping him up as he adjusted to the shift. This meant two things, firstly that Loki could have done that _every time_ they’d teleported and so clearly enjoyed watching him stumble about, and secondly that Loki was probably thinking too hard about something.

 

Loki smiled softly and let his grip loosen. His hand wandered down Tony’s bicep and along his forearm before grasping Tony’s hand in his and nudging them forward a little.   

 

They were standing in thick snow…in another deserted forest clearing.

 

“Lokes, you said ‘residence’” Tony said, “Did you mean a tree?”

 

Loki huffed and started to walk towards a denser patch of forest.

 

“I don’t think I should even answer you.”

 

Tony snorted and Loki continued to pull them along, their shoes crunching in the thick snow.

 

_Teleporting is awesome_ , Tony mused as they walked through the new landscape, and so fucking convenient that he almost didn’t feel the small pang of longing for his private jet. The luxury he was used to surrounding himself in wasn’t something you could shake off. But hell, who was he to complain about magic, it had saved his ass too many times. And had he mentioned _fucking awesome?_

 

“I haven’t been here for a few years” Loki remarked after a few minutes walking, “It was a favourite of mine before I found other things to occupy me.” he smirked.

 

“You never know Dasher, it could be a favourite again” Tony quipped, “whatever the hell _it_ is.” He added slightly under his breath.

 

They fell into a comfortable silence as they walked. It was beautiful, Tony had to give Loki that. He felt like he’d just fallen into a Christmas special of an especially cheesy TV show it, was so freakin’ picturesque.

 

The trees started to clear as they came to side of a small lake, and lo and behold there was a cabin just sitting by the edge.  Yeah, definitely a cheesy Christmas special. There was even fresh snow starting to fall.

 

“Okay, so not a tree then.” Tony grinned as they approached the cabin.

 

“Decidedly not.” Loki waved his hand over the door handle and it opened with a little creaking noise.

 

“You could have just used the handle” Tony said, moving around Loki and inside. He dropped his bags on the wooden floor and looked around. It was small but by no means cramped, even if the place had the slight air of neglect hanging over it. Tony noted some cobwebs and a fine layer of dust on a large bookshelf. 

 

“But where‘s the fun in that?” Loki said, stepping inside after him, his voice drawling.

 

“And it’s all about fun, right Lokes?” Tony said with warmth.

 

“Sometimes it can be.” Loki wrapped his arms around Tony, pulling his gaze away from his surroundings. His arm gave a little flick and the door banged closed behind them. Tony huffed a laugh. If Loki wanted to be ostentatious, he really couldn’t judge.

 

Despite the remains of gloom, the little cabin was comfortable.  It wasn’t what Tony would have commissioned if he’d been building it. The noticeable lack of mini bar and hot tub highlighted that pretty fast, but the place had an authenticity you couldn’t get unless you’d put the effort in yourself. There wasn’t as much green as at Loki’s apartment.  It was considerably more muted, but hints of Loki’s opulent taste glared at him through the plush pillows on the bed and a few gold spined books peeking out from the bookshelf.  It was a home, one that had seen better days, but a home none the less.

 

In Loki’s arms, Tony listened to the way he breathed, letting the steady motion calm him. He’d hadn’t exactly gotten much sleep since this shit had started. Tony was used to staying up, but that usually involved more coffee and less gun shots.  Tony knew he was running on empty and little part of him wondered how long he’d last before all of his adrenaline left him.

 

Loki let out a deeper breath and seemed to steady himself. His posture tightened minutely and his arms lessened their grip on Tony’s body.

 

“You still have questions, do you not?” It should have been a question, but the way his lips curved around the words, they felt like a declaration. Tony let the words pull him back from the brink of calm and considered,

 

A thought dredged free from a corner of his mind, “Are you telling me you don’t?” he said.  There was _no way_ Loki could be as sure of himself as he looked. Tony knew better than that.

 

Tony extricated himself out of Loki’s slackened arms and took a few steps back. Not enough that he felt cut from Loki but enough that he could look at him properly. This was one conversation he didn’t want to be looking up at him for.

 

Loki noted the movement but didn’t seem concerned. He wasn’t the jagged figure from on top of the cliff. His lines were softer, his poise lacking the edge of a caged animal.

 

“Yes. I suppose I do.” Loki said and brought his hands together in a seemingly unconscious gesture.

 

“I guess we should have talked about this before.” Tony shrugged, and moved to sit on a slightly lumpy couch. He was itching for something to do with his fingers. If he’d been at Stark Tower this would have been when he’d been reaching for a drink, if only so he’d have something to fiddle with. He settled for the regular tapping at his arc reactor.

 

Loki remained standing, surveying the motion of Tony’s fingers against the casing.

 

“We lacked the time before we left” Loki smiled slightly. 

 

“And before that?” Tony asked him, Loki lifted his gaze from the motion.

 

“We thought we had all the time we wanted.”  

 

Tony smiled properly at that. Loki had just said everything and nothing, he always did show great talent at that.

 

“And what about now?” He said, catching the god’s eye “You know I don’t have as much time as you.” His voice still casual. But this was it, the ugly root of what Natasha had dug up. Tony _knew_ it wasn’t the way she said it was and he _knew_ this wasn’t the start of another awful fight. What he didn’t know was where the hell that left them now.  

 

Loki walked towards him and sat at the other end of the couch, deliberately moving his body so they wouldn’t touch. His face was serious and Tony thought he saw something like desperation clinging to him.  _No,_ Tony mentally shook himself, _that can’t be right_

 

“That doesn’t have to be true.” Loki said finally, Tony opened his mouth but Loki held up a hand, willing him for silence. Tony abided and Loki continued “I meant what I said Tony, I am far too selfish to let you go for so absurd a reason as your mortal lifespan…” Loki trailed off, the fire of his words dying and a new emotion creeping onto his face.

 

“But it is your choice. I would not… I will not make you stay with me beyond your natural years if it was not something you truly wanted.” Loki ended quietly.

 

Tony felt frozen and aflame both at once, Loki was serious. He actually had a way to stop time being a problem for them. Tony lowered his eyes to the floor, the idea was strangely jarring to him. Not because of Loki, but wouldn’t that mean he’d have to leave everyone else behind?   He’d outlive the little group of people that had come to be his family. Tony wasn’t naïve, he knew they’d rather lock him up now then talk to him, but he hadn’t totally given up hope of changing that. Did he _really_ want to see his world change around him, everything he knew to be true fade into history? 

 

And yet, it was Loki. That’s what is always seemed to come down to. The fact that he’d been offered a chance to see well beyond what he should have been capable of would have meant nothing had it not come from him.  He felt like they were back at Stark Tower, clutching broken ribs and looking at Loki’s outstretched hand.

 

“I don’t know how to do forever Loki.” Tony said and Loki pulled himself a littler straighter, like he was bracing himself for an inevitable ‘no’ “But I’d like the time to see if I can try.” Tony finished, pulling himself towards Loki’s frozen shape. He placed his hands over Loki’s and waited for his god to relax.

 

Loki seemed to ease in increments until his face finally cleared and he returned Tony’s grasp on his hands.

 

“For now” Loki started, “that is all I need to know.”

 

“Good, cause I can work with that” Tony let himself close the distance between them, his hands came up to wrap around Loki’s shoulders as he brought their lips together.

 

Loki came alive under his hands, pulling Tony onto his lap and setting his hands on his hips, fingers pressing into his flesh gently. They kissed deep and slow, letting their half formed promises bleed from their lips. 

 

Tony stroked his hands through Loki’s hair; not tugging, just reverently letting his fingers flow through the strands to hear Loki hum appreciatively. 

 

Loki started to run his hands up from Tony’s hips, and inside the stolen leather jacket, still moving with great care. His hands ran up along his sides and back down again in a steady motion. It felt like Loki was making sure Tony was actually there, the way his hands mapped him, spreading warmth through the t-shirt he had underneath.

 

Tony reluctantly let his hands fall from Loki’s hair and allowed their kiss to stop. Despite all of Loki’s healing spells, he could feel the ache in his bones that meant he’d been on his feet too long. He let his head fall onto Loki’s shoulder and rested there, breathing in the comforting smell of his god.

 

“It seems I have been lacking in my duties” Loki said. Tony could feel the words vibrate through Loki’s body and pressed his head closer into Loki’s neck. He really did smell amazing.

 

“And what _duties_ would that be, Prancer?” He murmured into the soft skin.

 

“Tending to you. I have kept you awake far too long” Loki kept running a soothing hand along his back.

 

“M’fine” Tony mumbled.

 

Loki chuckled and coaxed Tony off of his lap with a look that promised he wasn’t going far.  

 

Tony obeyed the direction with only a little bit of regret at the loss of contact. Tony’s thoughts were soon calmed when Loki grabbed his hand and led him through the small living room into what had to be a smaller bedroom. It had a bed and despite his verbal protests, that’s all that he really cared about. That and making sure Loki would be joining him.

 

Tony looked down at their hands just before Loki nudged him onto the bed and thought about all the places Loki had led him within the last 24 hours. _God, is that all it’s been_ Tony thought. Time waits for no man, especially if that man is Tony Stark.

 

Tony scooted back onto the bed and pulled Loki with him, he gave a happy little groan when his body settled on the soft mattress.

 

“I don’t think that sound was made for me” Loki said, he brought a hand up to Tony’s face, and stroked along his cheek.

 

“I’m a sucker for a soft bed and a pretty face” Tony wiggled down into the pillows “So it was at least 30 percent for you.” He leaned his face into Loki’s hand and let his touch sooth him. It was like someone had flipped a switch and all the fight and adrenaline was just _gone_. Tony always had crashed hard, ever since he was a little kid and this was no exception. 

 

Loki settled himself on top of Tony, and let his hair fail around his face as he looked down into Tony’s eyes. Loki’s bright eyes had a soft sheen and promised everything Natasha had said wasn’t there. Tony felt his stomach flip nervously.

 

“Tell me,” Tony said, because _fuck_ being proud about this. He needed to hear it.

 

Loki looked puzzled for about half a second before the comprehension dawned on him.

 

“So that’s what she said,” Loki spoke the words softly “Is that all I need to say to convince you that I won’t go?”

 

“I don’t know, but it would be a start,” Tony wiggled slightly under Loki’s gaze but willed himself not to make a joke. For once he was gonna act like an adult and get this shit sorted out. He could totally do that.

 

Loki let out a breath and bent his head towards him, letting their foreheads touch. Tony was both glad and disappointed he couldn’t look into Loki’s eyes. He knew the gaze would burn him.

 

Loki moved in close, letting his lips brush across Tony’s ear and said quietly but firmly;

 

“I love you too, Tony.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Valentines Day guys! hope you enjoyed, please leave me a comment if you did :)

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed, please leave a comment. You can find me at asgardianabsinthe.tumblr.com too if you'd rather :)


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